r/ResumeUp

One thing I’ve noticed while job searching is that timing matters a lot. By the time a role shows up everywhere, hundreds of people have already applied, which decreases the chances by a lot.

Grep tools are usually the solution which checks company career pages directly and brings fresh software engineering, data, AI/ML, and internship roles into one place. If you are looking for something similar, DM or comment. I've something that might help someone if they are in a similar situation.

Didn't want it to look like a promotion. If interested, please dm or comment; I will paste it there. TY.

so I was freelancing for about a year and a half doing content writing. the money was ok but I was tired of chasing invoices and wanted something stable with benefits. started applying to remote positions around february and it was brutal.

my main issue wasnt even finding listings - there are tons everywhere. it was that my resume just wasnt getting through. I'd apply to 15-20 things a week and hear back from maybe one. and usually it was an automated rejection.

someone in a slack group mentioned globalwork ai for resume tailoring specifically. paying for a job search tool when youre already broke from freelancing felt dumb but I figured id try it for a month and cancel if it was useless.

the resume part ended up being what I used most. instead of sending the same resume everywhere it suggests adjustments for each role based on the job description. started hearing back way more than before - not like every other app but enough that it didnt feel completely hopeless. hard to put exact numbers on it but went from basically nothing to a few callbacks a week

ended up getting a remote content role with a saas company after about 5 weeks of this approach. decent pay, benefits, fully remote. though honestly the role isnt exactly what I had in mind - more product content than creative writing. took it anyway because stability > passion at this point I guess

things I didnt like: the AI matching kept suggesting project management roles which arent my thing at all, and even after I marked them as irrelevant it took over a week to stop. no free tier to test first which feels wrong for a job search tool - youre basically gambling that it works. also tried Teal before this and their free version is honestly decent for basic keyword stuff. if money is tight id probably start there. globalwork felt more targeted but im not sure it was $20/month more targeted if that makes sense

the question I keep going back to is whether the tool made the difference or if I just got better at targeting and interviewing over time. probably a bit of both but I cant really tell

ok this is gonna be a weird post.

i'm not even searching rn, just helping a friend with hers and she said something like "well i don't know what other people's resumes look like" and i was like.. honestly me neither. like i've seen templates and the same 5 examples on every resume guide but i don't think i've ever actually seen a normal persons resume in the wild.

so i texted some people. just "hey can you send me ur current resume i'm curious, won't critique unless u want me to." got 6 back. range was like 2-8 yrs experience, mix of industries.

genuinely don't know what i expected but it wasn't this

one friend's was 4 pages. four. she's been working for 6 years. every internship from uni was still on there with like 4 bullets each. when i (carefully) asked she said "i don't want to cut anything in case it matters." i get that emotionally but jesus

another friend had no dates on jobs. like just "Marketing Coordinator, [Company]" with no years. asked why and he said someone on reddit told him to remove them to avoid age discrimination. he's 31. i did not have the heart

3 of them had objective statements. i thought those died like a decade ago?? "Seeking a challenging role" energy. one of them works in tech.

two had photos which whatever i know thats normal in some countries but one of them is in the US and just.. likes how she looks in it i guess

what kept getting me though was the bullets. like wildly different quality between people who all have similar experience levels. one friend's bullets were specific and you could see what she did. another friends bullets were literally "responsible for managing day to day operations" type stuff. and these two people make similar money at similar companies?? so its not like the bad-bullet version is being punished by the market exactly. or maybe it is and she just doesnt know

(i should say none of these people asked for feedback and i did not give any. felt weird enough just looking)

i don't really have a conclusion here. i think i assumed everyone was kind of doing the same thing and we were all comparing to the same templates but actually nobody knows what anyone elses resume looks like and the variation is huge. some of these would probably get callbacks no problem. some of them.. idk.

has anyone else ever actually seen what their friends are sending out? not advice, just like. have you seen them. what did you notice

I know the obvious stuff. Don't fake a degree. Don't claim jobs you never had. Nobody's arguing that.

But there's a whole grey area that nobody actually talks about honestly and I think most people are living in it.

Things like:

Listing a skill you technically know but would panic if they tested you on it in an interview. Is that lying or just optimism.

Stretching employment dates by a month or two to make a gap look smaller. Everyone knows gaps are penalised. Is closing a one month gap really the same as fabricating experience.

Calling yourself a lead when you were never officially given that title but you were genuinely doing that work. Your employer just never updated your job title.

Rounding up numbers. You improved something by 23% but you wrote 25%. Is that a lie or just how resumes work.

I'm not trying to get anyone to admit to anything. I'm just genuinely confused about where embellishment ends and lying starts because the advice I keep seeing treats them as the same thing and I don't think they are.

Where do you draw the line? And has anyone ever actually faced consequences for something in the grey zone rather than the obvious stuff?

So I rebuilt my CV a few weeks ago after that recruiter feedback post. Applied once. Got a callback within a week. Eventually got the job.

The whole time I was focused entirely on the CV. ATS keywords, clean format, achievement bullets. Never touched my LinkedIn.

Now my friends are spending hours optimising their LinkedIn SSI scores, posting content, tweaking profile headlines. Some of them are treating the LinkedIn score like it matters more than anything else.

And I'm sitting here like ..I never did any of that. Got the job anyway.

But I also can't tell if I just got lucky or if the CV was genuinely enough. Maybe the LinkedIn stuff matters more when you're applying to certain types of roles. Maybe it matters more when a recruiter is sourcing people rather than you applying directly.

Genuinely don't know. My experience says CV first. My friends' behaviour says LinkedIn is the whole game.

Has anyone actually tested this? Did optimising your LinkedIn make a real difference or did a strong CV do most of the work?

Any tips on my resume would be helpful. Thank you so much.

https://preview.redd.it/4efiruinp41h1.png?width=630&format=png&auto=webp&s=f63f007d4413c20aff2d9900b9d195d1a900c9b1

just graduated, been applying for a few weeks and not getting much traction so figured i'd post here

interned at a small digital agency last year, worked retail through college, did some volunteer stuff. nothing crazy but it's what i have

mainly wondering if the bullets actually sound like i did something or if it's just noise. also not sure if the summary is killing me since i'm not applying to one specific thing

any feedback appreciated, be honest

https://preview.redd.it/u5ap9el4cw0h1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ebf7d60d189cf98479c72b5f73f8b2762f6c336

Not going to pretend this is a normal experience. It probably isn't. But I think the lesson is useful even if you've never applied somewhere twice let alone three times.

First application (Year 1): Cold. Found the role on a job board, applied with a standard resume, no connection to anyone at the company. Got an automated rejection.Never heard from a human.

Second application (Year 2): I had made a LinkedIn connection with someone who worked there we'd interacted a few times on posts, nothing deep. She noticed I'd applied and said she'd put in a word. Got a first-round interview. Didn't progress past it. The feedback was that I didn't show enough understanding of their specific business model and how I'd apply my experience to their context.

Third application (14 months later): Different this time. I had spent months genuinely engaging with the company following their content, commenting with actual thoughts (not just "great post"), reading their public writing, understanding their product properly. When I applied I knew what problems they were trying to solve. My cover letter was specific about it. My interview answers were grounded in their actual situation, not generic examples. Got the offer after four rounds.

The difference between the second and third attempt wasn't my experience that had grown but not dramatically. The difference was that I had stopped trying to get a job there and started genuinely being interested in them. That sounds like a soft thing but it comes through concretely: in the cover letter, in interview answers, in the questions I asked at the end of every round.

Genuine interest in a company is one of the things that's genuinely hard to fake and genuinely hard to beat.

Have you ever gotten into a company on a later attempt? What changed the second or third time?

small post but something I've been thinking about.

almost every resume template I've ever seen has "References available on request" at the bottom. it's just… there. like furniture. nobody questions it.

then a recruiter told me it was a waste of space. "everyone has references. I've never seen someone say 'no references available.' just take it off."

so I did. removed that line, used the space to add one more achievement bullet to my most recent role.

zero difference in how recruiters responded which is what I expected, but also confirmation that the line itself was doing nothing.

this obviously isn't groundbreaking. but it made me think about how many other things are on resumes purely out of convention rather than because they add any value.

other things I've removed that nobody has ever questioned or asked about:

• date of birth (no reason it should be there, and in a lot of places employers shouldn't even be asking)
• marital status (absolutely no reason this should be on a resume)
• a photo (carries unconscious bias risk and most ATS systems can't read images anyway)
• hobbies section (kept it only when it was genuinely interesting and relevant - removed the generic "reading, gym, traveling")
• the objective statement at the top ("seeking a challenging role where I can grow…" - said nothing, took up prime real estate)

every line you remove for being useless is a line you can replace with something that actually helps your case.

what's something you removed from your resume that you thought you needed but actually didn't?

I’m at my wit's end, but I’m a closer and I refuse to quit. I have a heavy background in SaaS, Print, and Digital Ad sales.

The Wall (The Gap):

My resume has a gap that was initiated by COVID, which I used to start a family and travel. However, I haven't been sitting idle; I’ve spent this time identifying and mastering the AI programs and systems needed to stay competitive. In my past tenures, I’ve always been a high-performer—regularly working overtime from home by choice because I love the hunt. I’ve always worked for a base + commission, and when I’m hitting my numbers and enjoying the work, I’m at my best. This is also where my remote experience and self-management skills come in.

The Hustle:

I am now using AI to help me tailor my resume for every single lead and writing custom cover letters for every application. Despite the effort, the background, and the technical upskilling, I’m not even getting bites right now.

What I’m Looking For:

I am looking for a remote role with a solid base salary where I can drive revenue and results. I’m platform-agnostic—I’ve sold software stacks and high-end digital/print campaigns. I know how to speak the language that gets the contract signed and I understand the marketing strategy behind the sale.

The Ask:

I need a reality check—what am I missing here?

Is a COVID-initiated gap still being judged this harshly, even with upskilling?

Is the AI-tailored resume approach actually backfiring?

For anyone in the space: Are there specific industries or companies currently valuing consultative SaaS/Ads experience for remote roles?

I'm ready to get back into a role with a solid base where I can drive revenue. Any insight on how to break through this wall would be life-changing.